Generally, a proxy server is a server that sits between a secure network, such as a corporate intranet, and a non-secure network, such as the Internet. It processes requests from computers on the intranet for access to resources on the Internet, while limiting or blocking access to the intranet from external computer systems. For efficiency purposes, it may in some cases attempt to fulfill these requests itself. In a typical proxy server implementation, the proxy server operates to filter requests for Web pages from the corporate intranet to the Internet. Web page requests are routed by the proxy server to the non-secure network and upon receipt of a requested Web page from the non-secure network, the proxy server forwards the Web page to the end user.
In other instances, a proxy server may serve as an authorization and/or authentication server to authenticate and/or authorize a particular user to enter a network. For example, a hotel chain may employ a corporate-wide Web proxy server that requires a customer to log in from a local area network (e.g., local wireless network of a particular hotel branch), in order to access an external network such as the Internet. Thus, whenever a customer logs into the local area network, an access to an external Web site will be redirected to the proxy server which prompts the customer to log in. In order to access the external network, the customer has to provide the necessary credentials such as a username and/or password for authentication and authorization purposes. After having successfully logged into the proxy server, the customer can then freely access the external network. Thus, every time a customer attempts to access the external network, the customer has to manually log into the proxy server by providing the necessary credentials. This may be done by hotels to charge customers for Internet access by the hour.